Sunday, March 18, 2012

Quick, Slightly Spoilery Thoughts on the ME3 Ending

Shepard's not feeling so hot. I hope that's not too spoilery

If you're a Mass Effect fan, you probably already know that the ending to Mass Effect 3 has been very controversial among fans. I'll say one thing: it's certainly got people talking. My wife and I finished the game together, and we spent the rest of the evening discussing what happened and what it meant.

Bioware has done something truly amazing with Mass Effect 3. It has created a world that I was glad to be part of, with characters I cared about. The decisions I made along the way were important to me. Regardless of how those decisions impact the endgame, they made me stop and think, and they got me invested in the game.

As Tycho pointed out, part of the disappointment some people feel about the ending was no doubt caused by the fact that the game had to end at all. But we knew from the start that something was coming, and that Shepard would have to stop it or die trying.

When I finished the game, I felt emotionally exhausted. Shepard and I had been through so much, and had fought so hard, that I still haven't wrapped my head around the fact that it's over. The journey we started in Mass Effect 1, when we decided to take the Normandy through her paces with a turian Specter on board, has come to an end. It's been a memorable trip. We developed a crush on a squadmate and a friendship with several more. We represented humanity on the galactic stage, and we fought back with everything we had against a foe that sought to exterminate us.

It's all still fresh in my mind. It's all still sinking in, but I wanted to share my initial reaction. Let me know when you finish the game. I'll be interested in hearing your thoughts.